


She's Come Undun

by Monstradamus



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Humor, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23811742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monstradamus/pseuds/Monstradamus
Summary: The sequel to So Coal Black Grew the Elder One. The series continues as the heroes face new and old foes alike. A new enemy has emerged, and it will greatly impact the future of the newest team member, Archangel. His brother wants nothing short of complete revenge on the royal family of Tamaran. Now, Archangel has a tough choice ahead: protect the woman he loves or give in to his powerful brother's wishes.
Relationships: Robin/Starfire, Starfire/OC
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	She's Come Undun

**Author's Note:**

> _So, it has indeed been a very long while if you were a reader of my first Teen Titans story way back in the day. About two, or even three years ago, I promised that a sequel was in the works after I took some time off from the material. Well, it’s finally back! I bring you the sequel to So Coal Black Grew the Elder One._
> 
> _A fair word of warning, when I first wrote the original story, I had already finished about half of it before I started posting it on FFnet. This meant that I could keep to a regular posting schedule for it because a good portion of the story was already written and all I had to do was continue writing future chapters while older chapters were being finished. This will not be the case for this one. It was a bit of a struggle to get this one started, but I figured you’ve waited long enough and chapter one needs to come out now. Thus, future updates will not be as regular with this one. Other projects are being worked on simultaneously, and since these are usually long chapters for this series, that could be a long gap between chapters. Bear with me, and hopefully, it’ll pay off._
> 
> _Also, this one will be structured a little differently. In my first story, there were small prologues that took a look into the past of Starfire. Those will exist this time, regarding Archangel, but they will not be guaranteed every chapter. This first chapter is not one of those chapters where we will have one, but they will be in others._
> 
> _I do not own Teen Titans and never will. Curses!_

Normal at the T-Tower, the headquarters of the Teen Titans usually meant different things. For the most part, so long as everyone was content in their usual activities, this counted as normal for the young team of superheroes. At least, it was that way for most of the Titans.

“Ugh, so bored,” Beast Boy whined from his place on the couch.

This was nothing new to the team, and they mostly ignored these empty complaints. But Beast Boy was persistent. “I said I was bored,” he repeated a little louder.

Robin finally looked down from his newspaper, remaining calm despite his friend’s moans. “Considering that for the past two weeks we’ve been slammed with crimes to stop, I thought you would be happy to finally have a break.”

Beast Boy had, up until this point been a puddle who had melded with the couch hours ago. He sat up, still flicking through channels mindlessly on the couch. “Yeah, but that was before I realized there was nothing to do.”

Robin sighed. “Well, I can’t help you there. Maybe go bug Cyborg. He likes doing stuff with you.”

“Not today. He’s working on the car again, and he never wants me near stuff.”

“Probably wise,” Robin muttered low enough for him not to hear. “Archangel?”

Robin knew Beast Boy had particularly warmed up to the newest member of the team after a few initial bumps and clashes of personalities.

“I dunno. He’s been kinda...off lately. He’s all quiet and stuff, and he hardly leaves that greenhouse of his.”

Robin prickled at that. He never liked it when anything felt wrong with his teammates, and he always took note of unusual behavior. And when it comes to their newest teammate, who Robin did not particularly care for, it made him all the more suspicious. For now, he played it off as if nothing was wrong.

“Star then? She’s always up for doing anything.”

“I would, but she already left to go do stuff.”

“Well, that’s everyone who’s willing to tolerate,” he said, going back to his newspaper.

Beast Boy perked up. “What, not Raven?”

Robin almost laughed at that. “She doesn’t like doing group things as it is, and she almost never does any of the stuff you like.”

“Well, but what if I did something she liked? Besides, her room’s way more interesting than anything out here.”

He got up and started heading down the hall. Robin sighed and said to himself, “You’re just digging your own grave.”

It was hard to tell if Beast Boy genuinely could not take a hint, or if his need for something interesting kept him from listening to reason. True, Raven acted much more cordially to him than when they first met, but she still liked her privacy, especially from a green-skinned pest who did not understand the concept of boundaries. He started knocking on her door. “Rae? Raven! Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to do something today?”

The door slid open a crack, and Raven regarded him with a confused, but curious expression. “What?” she asked shortly.

He grinned. “You know, I was bored and stuff, and thought you might wanna hang out.”

“I don’t do ‘hanging out,’” she replied. “Why don’t you get Starfire or Cyborg to do that with you?”

“They’re busy,” he said after a long pause. Then he realized how that must have sounded. “But I’m not using you as a last resort or anything,” he said quickly.

Raven looked back in her room. “I’m kind of busy doing something.”

“Like reading? I could do that with you.” He started to step into the room before she could offer protest.

He saw her bookshelf in the back corner, picked out a tome, and began flipping through pages. His face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to read. The words were difficult...written in an entirely different language. Raven shook her head.

“I appreciate you trying to take up one of my interests, but I really am in the middle of something.” She gestured to the salt circle on her floor, a candle burning in the middle of it.

Beast Boy looked a little frightened by it. “Um...what were you doing?”

“Stuff,” Raven repeated again, not willing to explain it any further.

His face fell. “Oh, I guess I’ll just go then.”

Raven sighed, hating that she took pity on him. “Look, if you’re so interested in reading right now, you can borrow one of my books.”

He gave her a sort of half-laugh. “It’s not that I could understand them anyway. Besides, not really a lot of stories I’m into.”

“Have you ever thought of writing your own stories?”

“Me? I couldn’t write my way out of a paper bag.”

Raven went to her closet and began rummaging through her things. “You might actually find you like it. Writing lets you decide where the adventure goes. You basically get to make up the story you’ve always wanted to read.”

She handed him a pen and some paper. “Yeah, but it wouldn’t be any good.”

“Well no, I don’t expect you to be the next Shakespeare or anything, but it’s just about getting the words on the paper and expressing yourself.” She gave him a light shove out the door. “And it’ll keep you busy for the rest of the day.”

“So...Robin told you?”

“Goodbye, Beast Boy.”

The door slid shut. Beast Boy stood there, just shuffling his feet for several seconds. “I’m just bored is all. What’s the big deal?” he grumbled.

He looked down at the paper Raven had given him and gave her idea some serious thought. He definitely was not a writer, and this clearly was far from his interests. Plus, the more he thought about it, the harder it seemed. Still, it was better than nothing.

So, for the next couple of hours, Beast Boy was holed up in his room, concentrating hard as he tried to churn out ideas. At first, it was difficult to come up with anything. Everything he could think of was already an idea from his favorite comic books or the movies. But then an idea hit him, and with a grin on his face, he began scribbling away at his first attempt at his own story.

By the time dinner rolled around, he was pretty pleased with himself.

“Check it out!” Beast Boy said, waving his pile of papers in Cyborg’s face.

“For starters, get it out of my face. Now, what is it?”

Beast Boy grinned from ear to ear. Cyborg could already tell he was about to make a big show of it.

“Okay, prepare yourself for the most action-packed, thrilling, exciting adventures of Captain Amazing!”

Cyborg shrugged. “Well, that better be me you’re talking about.”

“No, it’s a superhero I created. I wrote my own comic book. Captain Amazing is this awesome hero who can beat up any bad guy. He’s got super strength, super speed, supervision…”

“So, basically just Superman,” Robin interrupted with a laugh.

Beast Boy scowled. “Is not! Captain Amazing isn’t an alien. He got all his powers from a radioactive meteor, but this evil lizard overlord, Darklord Salamandoom, his arch-nemesis has reverse-engineered that meteor to create a serum that would take away Captain Amazing’s powers. So, he fights all of the villain’s thugs to stop that from happening because if it does, that will allow Darklord Salamandoom to take over the world by turning everyone into his lizard minions.”

He finally stopped to take a breath. Raven, who had been only half-listening from her corner of the common room, said, “A radioactive meteor, how original.”

“Hey, you told me to write a story I would want to read.”

Starfire eagerly flew to him and was bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Oh, I would be most interested to hear your narrative of this legend of the Amazing Captain.”

“Archie, are you in?” Beast Boy asked to Archangel, who was lying on the couch, his mind millions of miles away.

He snapped out of it, but he still seemed distant in the conversation. “Sure, but if this is like your other visual reading materials, are you going to describe every single picture?”

“You bet, buddy!”

“Right…” Archangel was not exactly in the mood for listening to Beast Boy go on and on, describing every last detail of his comic books, even if it was funny sometimes. So much weighed on his mind. “Um…sure.”

“Great, so we open up on the dark backstreets of Citopolis, and…”

Beast Boy went into an impassioned speech, reading his work. There was a glimmer in his eyes that he had not had in a long time. Cyborg only shook his head and said to Raven, “You created this monster, you know.”

She went back to her own reading. “Yes, but it keeps him entertained. Besides I actually got him to do something educational for once.”

He shrugged and went back to his own work.

For several weeks after that, Beast Boy stuck to his new passion. He felt that he had somehow stumbled upon his true calling. He was meant to write comic books.

Much to the annoyance of his teammates, he always found an excuse to talk about his writings. He always wanted to show off his latest “masterpiece,” or talk about what he was planning in the next installment. Even Starfire had seemed to start tuning him out as he went on and on.

Robin particularly did not care for the new mess Beast Boy would leave in his wake. Crumpled papers, broken pencils, and such debris were starting to become common.

“It’s great that you’re found this new love of writing and all,” Robin told him one day. “But would it kill you to pick up after you’re done.”

“Sorry, I forget it’s there sometimes. An artist needs his thinking space, and I get distracted.”

“Well, it wouldn’t kill you to clean up after you’re done,” Robin said, rolling his eyes. “Plus, I don’t think you need all that much space.” Honestly, it looked like a tornado of paper had hit the entire common room.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get it cleaned. I just wanted to finish this last page.”

“Sometime today, beast Boy,” Robin said. “I’ll check back in an hour.”

Beast Boy inwardly groaned but did not pay it too much mind. True, Robin was nitpicky, but he could usually get away with shirking off trivial things, unless Robin was in a mood. In the meantime, a new problem made itself apparent.

“Aw man, out of pencils,” he said when the stubby pencil broke for the last time. “Maybe Raven has some.”

Surely, if she was the one who had suggested writing, she kept some writing utensils handy. It did not surprise him to find that Raven was not in her room, though he was a bit perturbed to find her door had been left open. “Rae? Everything okay? You, uh...you in that mirror that’s a portal into your head or something?”

Nothing looked out of place. Usually, if something had ever happened to Raven, stuff would be thrown around and look like a mess, usually due to demon possession or something of that nature. He called out again, not sure what kind of an answer he was expecting.

“Um, so, I just wanted to borrow a pen or something, you know, for my comics?”

Beast Boy had somewhat learned to avoid Raven’s artifacts and tools, especially the ones that looked as creepy as they probably were. So long as he did not touch anything weird, he felt he would be fine.

That was much easier said than done, however. Raven kept a lot of strange artifacts in her room. And there was the temptation to touch some of them. They just looked so mysterious and cool, it was hard for him to resist, but he was on a mission.

He took a quick, sweeping look over her dresser and desk. Usually, Raven was pretty organized and that would be the sort of place where she would keep such things. At last, he spied what he was looking for.

Leave it to Raven to never do anything halfway. He found a large, black, quill pen on top of her dresser. A bottle of ink lay right beside it. She probably used it for calligraphy or something fancy, he thought. No matter. He would only be borrowing it for today, he figured. Plus, he was going to admit that it felt cool getting to write with a fancy pen like this. He could understand Raven’s reason for having it.

* * *

Robin still could not shake the feeling that something was up with Archangel. True, much like Raven, he kept to himself and was fairly quiet. But lately, he seemed to have developed the almost recluse-like behavior of Raven as well. That was not typical of their newest member.

Robin was not sure he should be the one to talk to him. It was no secret between them that they were by no means close friends. A mutual attraction to Starfire had left them in the realm of rivals, but they pretty much agreed to work as a team so long as they stayed out of each other’s way.

Still, he was the only one who seemed concerned about this behavior and now dared to try and have a personal conversation with him. Robin knocked on his door. There were a few bumps and shuffled on the other side. The door eventually swished open. Archangel looked a little flustered. “Oh, Robin,” he said, surprised when he picked up the scent of his visitor.

Robin was still impressed with their newest teammate’s skills. Then again, Archangel had been blind all his life. He was used to having to figure out how to manage.

He looked Archangel up and down. He had gotten used to seeing the alien that looked like the living embodiment of a satyr. He was a superhero, of course. He had seen his fair share of strange things. But nonetheless, he could tell when something was off. Archangel’s blond hair and fur looked matted and disheveled, as if he had just woken up for the day, which was unusual. He was normally up by sunrise for his morning prayers. He also was not wearing the piece of cloth that covered his white eyes, and Robin could see dark shadows underneath. It looked like he had not been sleeping well at all.

“Um, hey,” Robin said, feeling awkward. Now he wished he had practiced what he was going to say. “You, uh...you doing okay?”

“Doing what?” he murmured.

Normally, Archangel could catch on to some of the meanings behind English phrases, a little better than Starfire anyway. Robin figured it was because his language was much more informal than Tamaranean, but today, he seemed off.

“I mean, how are you feeling? You just seem...I dunno, tired. Everything okay?”

He seemed to snap out of it, at least enough to want to try and convince Robin nothing was out of the ordinary. “I am fine,” he said. “I have just been…”

Robin stood there, waiting for an answer. “I have been having some trouble sleeping,” he admitted, not sure what else to say.

“Something bothering you?”

Archangel shrugged. “No, not really. I suppose I am just having some trouble. It is hard when I am still getting used to the subtle differences between your day and night. Raven had done some reading on it. She says that is normal with me being blind.”

Robin was not entirely sure he was buying this, but it could not hurt to check with Raven before making any accusations. Still, his detective senses were tingling. “Do you mind if I come in?” he asked, not sure what excuse he could come up with to be in there, or what to even look for.

He saw the marked difference in Archangel’s features. He was very uncomfortable with the idea. “I think not,” he said, politely declining him. “I am trying to catch up on some of the lost sleep.”

Robin frowned. He was hiding something. “Okay, but be ready for a training session in about an hour.” He was not going to push now. He would have to find a better opportunity.

Archangel slid the door closed. He needed to prepare a good lie, he knew. At the moment, he could not be more obvious that something was up. He took a deep breath. It was not worth it, he knew. He should not be doing this, but what choice did he have?

He went to the very back of his room, to his private greenhouse. Normally, caring for his many plants brought him peace. Not anymore. He felt like such a traitor. No, he was one, not just felt like one, he told himself. His fingers brushed the edge of the plant that he knew could only cause trouble. Thankfully, it was only a bud, meaning there was still quite a bit of time before he would have to use it. That meant he still had time to try and think of a way out of this.

* * *

Beast boy had been saddled with the weekly grocery run, and was almost done with the shopping. He was preparing for the part he hated the most about this job: buying meat. If Cyborg was not such a carnivore at heart, this might have been a little easier. Instead, the metal man had left him with a list practically a mile long of animal flesh to purchase.

He always got uncomfortable when he approached the butcher station of the market. True, it was not as graphic as some local butcher stores where hte clerk still had blood on their aprons. No, at a nicer supermarket like this, that would have scared away customers. For Beast Boy, it had more to do with the smell.

He took a deep breath and braced himself for the long order when he heard a loud boom outside. As a superhero, he was used to such occurrences and ran out to see what it was. When he looked, he could not believe his eyes.

Standing in a very large crater in the street was a tall and imposing figure wearing a dark, purple cape. Beast Boy could just make out the green, scaly crest o his head. “No way,” he said in a hushed breath.

As the figure turned around, he could see the reptilian face. It was practically a cross between an iguana and a dinosaur. His yellow-slitted eyes scanned the area, and his tongue darted in and out of his mouth, drawing attention to his sharp teeth. The figure breathed in the air of the city, flexing his clawed fingers. “Yes, this pathetic planet will do nicely,” he hissed in a low voice.

Nobody was more surprised to see the looming figure than Beast Boy. He felt like pinching himself to make sure this was no dream. “D...Darklord Salamandoom?” he said in awe.

The figure looked down at him at hearing his own name. His lips curled in a sneer. “Ah, little green Earth rat. This planet is full of surprises.”

Beast Boy squealed, clearly reveling in the fact that his character had somehow been made real. “Oh, my gosh, it really is you! I just can’t believe it right now. Like, you’re the best super villain I’ve ever created. Actually, you’re the only one I’ve created, but still, it is super cool to meet you, and… Wait a minute…”

Slowly, as was his way most of the time, Beast Boy was coming to the realization that something was very wrong with this situation. “If you’re real,” he muttered, “then that means you’re actually a real villain.”

Darklord Salamandoom’s yellow eyes started to glow and dozens of lizard-men thugs began to creep out of the shadows. His voice became deeper and much more threatening. “This worthless planet will be mine, and no one can stop me,” he boomed.

Beast Boy pressed the emergency button on his communicator. “Except for the Teen Titans,” he said. “Get ready to eat it, lizard-breath.”

He morphed into a T-rex, ready to crush the villain’s little army. Darklord Salamandoom chuckled, bringing out a weapon from under his cloak, and aimed it at Beast Boy. This gave him pause, and he stepped back. “Is..is that...the doom gun?”

“I see you know what it is,” Darklord Salamandoom siad with a sneer.

“But that’s like the deadliest weapon known to mankind and can -”

“I am well aware of what it can do. That’s why I built it.” He aimed the device at Beast Boy.

He gulped. This was bad, very bad. If Beast Boy had not been so worried about the doom gun and what it could do, he would have realized that if Darklord Salamandoom was here, that had to mean…

In a white and red blur, he saw something knock Darklord Salamandoom off his feet. Now Beast Boy felt sure that he had to be dreaming. Standing over the villain was a broad-shouldered, tall hero. Wearing a white suit with a red cape and his wavy hair blowing in the wind was none other than Captain Amazing. Beast Boy’s eyes lit up.

“I should’ve known the evil doer running amok was you,” Captain Amazing said. “But now the game is over. That weapon will not see the light of day again.”

“That’s what you think,” Darklord Salamandoom hissed. “But know this, Captain Amazing, I hold a secret that will end you.”

Suddenly, a flash of smoke went up and when it cleared, the villain was gone, leaving Beast Boy and his hero in a coughing fit. Captain Amazing’s brow furrowed. “Indeed this isn’t over,” he muttered before taking to the skies.

Beast Boy was left there to sit and wonder what had just happened.

* * *

“I’m telling you, it was really them,” Beast Boy said as he relayed his harrowing experience to the rest of the team. “Darklord Salamandoom was all like, ‘I’ve got the doom gun,’ and Captain Amazing was all pow! And...and…”

“That’s quite a story,” Robin said, not really listening.

“It is...imaginative,” Starfire added, a look of concern for her friend’s wellbeing on her face.

“You really expect us to believe that your characters just walked off the pages and are now wandering around Jump City?” Raven said, crossing her arms with an impatient stare.

“How many Sugar Snaps did you have this mornin’?” Cyborg asked, chuckling at the ridiculousness of it all.

Beast Boy was not so amused. “I’m telling the truth. I saw them right in front of my own eyes. I don’t know how it happened, but they were true, honest.”

Even Archangel found the story a bit far-fetched. “They are only figments of your imagination. How dangerous could they be?”

Beast Boy gave an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know. I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know how bad it is yet. That’s why we’ve gotta find ‘em.”

Robin shrugged. “It can’t hurt to look. You guys humored me when I thought I kept seeing Slade everywhere.”

“Yeah, because that was an actual threat,” Cyborg said. “These are just cartoon characters. I’m pretty sure all this will turn out to be, is a wild goose-chase.”

Beast Boy was about to interject before Starfire intervened. “I will help you look, friend Beast Boy.”

Robin looked to Raven. “Pass,” was all she said.

Starfire seemed to plead to Archangel. He agreed with Cyborg that it would probably be pointless, but relented anyway.

For several hours, the team had turned the city upside down, looking for any sign of proof of Beast Boy’s wild tale. Not even the crater in the street where Darklord Salamandoom had arrived was there. Beast Boy was the most surprised by this. “But, but, it was right there!” he said incredulously. “I saw it. He just landed there like boom! There was this hug crater. Took out like half the street.”

Robin shook his head. “Well, it’s not here. Doesn’t even look like it’s been patched up.”

This left Beast Boy stuttering and at a loss for words. “But...but...but…”

He looked around frantically for any sign of proof. He had to make the others see. He had to believe himself, believe he was not insane. Robin only sighed. “Beast Boy, I know you’ve been having fun with this whole writing thing, but you’ve also kind of been one to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. I’m not saying you’re lying, but I think that maybe you’re letting your imagination get the best of you.”

Beast Boy sighed. Whatever had happened had felt so real to him. He was almost certain that something was up, but he just could not prove it. Yet, he knew there was no way he was going to be able to get his friends to understand, but he was not sure what to do himself. He relented to Robin’s comment, hoping to just drop the subject for now. “Yeah...maybe,” he said, letting the team lead him back to the tower.

The next few days did not prove any easier for the team. It seemed that everywhere they went, Beast Boy continued to see the figuments of his imagination that were his beloved characters. But every time he tried to point them out or get his friends to notice in time, they seemed to wander off somewhere else.

“Next thing you gonna tell me is that you see them on the beach, sharin’ an ice cream,” Cyborg said with a chuckle. “Look, buddy, I’m glad you found something to do with that overactive imagination of yours, but seriously, give it a rest.”

“But I’m not making this stuff up!” Beast Boy shouted. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I see them. I really do. I wish I could explain it, but I can’t.”

The other members of the team looked at each other worriedly. IF Beast Boy was seeing things that were not there, it was not a good sign. Strange things had happened to the team before, but when they got to this level, it meant something was wrong, usually with the person involved.

Robin tried to be helpful. After all, he had been through a similar situation, as Beast Boy had pointed out. However, he was still the leader of the team. He needed to be tough, but fair. “If you’re still seeing them, we’ll figure something out, but for now, maybe try to ignore them when you see them. Maybe with a little time, they’ll go away.”

Beast Boy could not believe it. They were treating him like he was crazy, like he was sick. Maybe he was. He was starting to doubt himself lately. But now that his friends thought that too, his spirits were crushed.

Instead, that pain came out as anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” he shouted. “We’re supposed to be a team, friends. You’re supposed to trust me and help me. But...but you don’t even take me seriously. I’ll find them and prove to you that this is real.”

He was not so sure how he would do that or if he could do that, but he felt so betrayed he was willing to make himself look like a fool. He stormed off in cat form, going...somewhere. He was not sure where he would start.

Robin looked to Raven. “What do you think? Too hard on him.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. He really believes this is going on, and he doesn’t always get so committed to an idea. I think something is definitely up, but I don’t know what.”

“You really think he’s seeing those things?”

She nodded. “I think so, but I don’t know what could be causing it.” She looked to Cyborg for an answer.

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was a medical thing unless I could test him, any you know he won’t go for that.”

Starfire looked worried. “Then, what are we to do?”

That was the question no one could seem to answer. If Beast Boy really was in trouble, then there was no way they could help him if he did not want help. What everyone needed were some answers.

Beast Boy ended up not going far. Just looking for his own characters was getting him nowhere. Besides, he never really had to find them. They usually just turned up wherever, and usually at the most inopportune times. He ended up going back to the tower and sulked in his room.

A part of him was still angry his friends did not believe him. They were supposed to be there for him and support him no matter what. But they had just treated the whole thing like it was some big joke. Maybe he had caused some of that himself. Sometimes he did make up some pretty tall tales. It was like that story about the boy who cried wolf. Maybe he had given his friends that reason not to believe him.

A part of him was also scared. What if he really was losing his mind, going crazy. He had seen what that kind of thing had done to Robin while he beat himself up fighting a foe that was not there. And if that was starting to happen, what then? He did not know why it was happening or how it could be stopped. Maybe Robin was right. Maybe if he pretended they did not exist, the visions would go away. Or at the very least, it would help him pretend to be okay so that his friends would not worry.

That did not feel right either. It would just be faking he was okay to make everyone else feel better. Besides, there was still one issue about all of this nagging at his mind. Even though that crater had disappeared after that first time he saw them, there was no denying it was real. He had felt it there. He could not be that good at making that kind of thing up, even if he was crazy. They were real, meaning that whatever destruction they caused was real too. The people of Jump City were in trouble, even if he was out of his mind.

He decided then he had to do something. Whatever the cause, people could be in danger. It was his job to protect people from danger, even if he was the cause of it. He needed to figure out something he could do.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Titans had gone in search of Beast Boy. “What do you think?” Robin asked.

The team had split up to look for him. He had been paired with Archangel. So far, he had been quiet through this whole ordeal. Not that it was by itself odd. Archangel was usually the quiet, contemplative type, but Robin was still convinced something was off about him.

“It is hard to say. On my planet, such fantastic visions are considered gifts from Malakb, a sign of divine intervention.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. That was a new one for him. “So, is that what you think this is? Beast Boy is having a religious experience?”

Archangel shook his head. “No, I merely mean that it is how my culture would interpret such an occurrence. I have become more familiar with earth to know that there could be other reasons for this. However, what perturbs me is how Beast Boy acts as a result.”

“Meaning?”

Archangel thought about how best to put this. “He has let these fantasies overtake him. The level to which he commits himself to having seen them is fascinating. He explains these figments of his imagination with such great detail. Worse still, he is so drawn into this fantasy world that has become his reality, and it disturbs him that it has not become ours as well.”

“So, then what caused this, you think?”

Archangel shook his head. “I wish I knew. Robin?”

He gave up looking at the area he was searching and answered. “Yeah?”

“A word to the wise when you go out on patrol with me. I have an excellent sense of smell, and if you wanted to find Beast Boy, he is definitely not here. I’m not sure why you bothered to look around.”

“Ah...yes, that does make sense.” Robin felt foolish as he said it. Short of having Beast Boy, he pretty much did have the team bloodhound. “So, does it smell like he’s anywhere farther from here?”

“Nowhere even close. Just lingering scents to tell me he frequents a few spots around here. If he is anywhere, he is pretty far away.”

* * *

Cyborg and Raven had been assigned a part of the city to sweep together. Both were feeling particularly upset by the whole ordeal.

“I should have done more than just blow him off,” Cyborg said with a sigh. “He’s my best friend and I just kept pushing this issue away. He really needs our help, and I’ve been a horrible friend.”

Raven concentrated, trying to pick up some sign of his emotional sense or his aura in the area. She paused her meditations long enough to answer. “What could you have done? Humored him? Pretended to believe him? I think he would have been more upset if you had done that.”

“So, what should I have done?”

Raven shrugged. “That’s hard to say. All you can do is try and help him, but if he doesn’t want the help, you can’t force it.”

“But you said you believed him.”

“I said I believe he is seeing these things. Whether they’re real or not is up for debate. However, until I can see one of his episodes when it happens, I don’t know how to help him.”

Cyborg’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “So, you find him yet?”

She shook her head. “Nothing I can trace. Beast Boy’s either out of range or he doesn’t want to be found.”

“I hope the others are making more progress.”

Raven put a reassuring hand on his arm. “We’ll get this sorted out. Beast Boy knows we won’t abandon him on this.”

* * *

Starfire had been sent on her own, able to cover more ground from the sky. To some extent, Beast Boy was a creature of habit. He usually had the same spots he liked to hang out. Starfire had checked most of those, though, and was coming up empty-handed.

Robin had always said that when it was hard to find someone to try thinking like them. Of course, Raven might have told her that trying to think like Beast Boy would be a bad idea. Still, nothing else was working.

Starfire knew that when Beast Boy was upset, he usually liked to go clear his head in places with lots of nature around. It usually gave him the free range to run off his anger or let the inner animal out. But she had already checked out all his usual haunts. The lake and the hills just out of thow were empty.

She tried to think of where else he would have gone. Starfire hated seeing Beast Boy so upset. At the same time, she could not deny that what he was saying was so outlandish. Characters from a book coming to life? Even she had to admit that was the stuff of fantasy. Then again, stranger things had happened to them before.

That was what made Starfire tempted to believe Beast Boy, somewhat. Given how many odd things had happened to them, was it that hard to believe that something this fantastical was happening. She was definitely starting to wonder.

That gave Starfire an idea. Likely, Beast Boy would try and find some kind of proof to show that his story was not made up. So, if she were thinking like him, she would go back to the first place this had started to happen. She would go to the source.

* * *

Beast Boy had gone back to the grocery store where it had all started. If he could find some piece of evidence, someclue, he could maybe understand what was going on. And prove I’m not crazy, he thought. Still no matter how many times he searched the area, he was coming up short.

“A crater doesn’t just disappear in a minute,” he said to himself. “There has to be something I’m missing.”

There was one thing still nagging at Beast Boy about the whole thing, and one of the things he had done before he left was take his homemade comic books with him. He was flipping through the pages while he searched.

“It’s almost a word-for-word copy of my comic,” he continued to himself. “Other than me being there to see it, all the words are exactly the same. The dialogue, everything. So, what would they be doing now?”

He flipped through some more pages. He had seen them a few times after the first instance, but he had not been close enough to hear what they said to each other. They had to be somewhere in his storyline right now, but where?

He heard a sound behind him, and for a brief second, he thought he would get his answer. His hopes were dashed when he saw that it was only Starfire. “Beast Boy…” she started.

His face fell. “So, did Robin send you guys to come haul me back in?”

“We are worried about you. We did not wish to see you put yourself in harm’s way.”

“What did you think I was going to do? I’m just searching for clues. Look, I get it. None of you believe me. So, just leave me alone and let me search on my own.”

Starfire shook her head. “Then let me help you look. I know that what you describe seems impossible, but if I can help you find anything to prove or disprove it, I would like to assist.”

Beast Boy smiled and sighed. “Thanks, Star. But I’m coming up empty right now. I haven’t found anything. It’s weird, though. I figured out that what I saw the first time was a scene exactly out of my comic book, but other than that, I’ve got nothing.”

“So it is as though your story is being acted out in our world,” Starfire said.

“Yeah, but I just can’t figure out what part of the story they would be at now. That could really help me figure out where to start looking.”

Starfire did not seem to be listening. She only stared off into the distance. That was when Beast Boy heard the rumble in the distance. He saw a flash of light in the cityscape. “Could that be…” Starfire began.

“I think so,” he answered. “Come on! We need to get there before they disappear again.”

* * *

In the middle of the city, Starfire and Beast Boy found that they were in the middle of a massive battle. On the one side, Beast Boy’s Captain Amazing was fighting off an onslaught of lizard soldiers who were coming at him from all sides. This did not seem to be a problem for the fictional hero. He was easily subduing them. The only problem seemed to be the sheer number of them. The only problem seemed to be the sheer number of them. There were too many for him to make any headway.

On the other side of the fight, Darklord Salamandoom was commanding his army to launch all attacks against Captain Amazing. All the while, he had the doom gun armed and ready, firing off a few blasts towards the hero. Chunks of the street flew into the air with each hit.

Both Starfire and Beast Boy were stunned. “It is real,” Beast Boy said in disbelief. “I was kind of hoping it was all just my imagination, but it’s actually real.” Then a new realization hit him. “Star we got to do something. If this is real, then that means the doom gun is real. If we don’t stop Darklord Salamandoom, he could destroy all of Jump City with it.”

Her fists ignited with waiting starbolts. “I can hold him off for now. You contact our friends.”

Beast Boy grabbed her arm. “No! You can’t. That doom gun obliterates anything. Even your powers can’t stop it.”

“We have to do something. If this weapon is as dangerous as you say, then one of us needs to distract him to avoid injury to citizens.”

Before either could say anymore, the rest of the Titans arrived. “We saw the flash,” Robin said. “What is…?”

All four of the other Titans could tell that they were in one of the most bizarre situations. Robin especially was surprised.

“So, yeah I was right,” Beast Boy said with a nervous laugh. “Look, no time. Darklord Salamandoom has the doom gun, and it’s like the most dangerous weapon out there. We gotta do something to help Captain Amazing.”

Raven seemed to still be accepting what was going on. “Wait, wait, wait. We’re just going to go with this? Are we not going to question why we’re about to fight fictional characters? These are characters from Beast Boy’s imagination. How did they get here?”

“We can worry about that later,” Robin said. “We need to contain the situation first, and we’ll worry about the how later. Titans, go!”

Cyborg and Robin took on the army of lizard men. They were clearly starting to overwhelm the city and Captain Amazing. Cyborg launched his retractable arms and started pulling lizard men off of the hero and tossing them off to the side. This at least stunned them for a few seconds before they got up and ran back into the fray. Robin was lassoing them in to help. “Try blasting them,” Robin said. “We need to figure out if these things can be hurt.”

“Way ahead of you.” Cyborg fired up his cannon and launched a small blast at a small swarm of the lizard men. They were instantly bowled over, laying in a heap. A few seconds later, they disappeared altogether.

“Well, that was weird,” Cyborg said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Not when more are coming,” Robin said. “It’s almost like whatever is making these things is doing it faster than we can get rid of ‘em.”

Indeed, Robin was right. It seemed that for every batch they could destroy, more kept coming. Even Beast Boy’s fabulous Captain Amazing was starting to look rundown by it all.

Starfire and Archangel had taken to the skies to assess the situation from above. “Any ideas?” Archangel said.

“I do not know what these things are or how they came. I am not certain as to how to begin to stop them. Beast Boy only said to avoid the weapon. It can destroy anything.”

“Then that is what we need to aim for,” he said. “That would at least weaken them.”

“We had better make a plan soon. The doom gun is being aimed at us.”

The two darted away just as Darklord Salamandoom attempted to shoot them out of the sky. Starfire responded with starbolts, aimed at the gun. He was equally as qick and dodged her assault. A swarm of lizard soldiers guarded him. Archangel attempted to fix the problem with a jet of flames. This forced the soldiers to scramble, giving Starfire an opening once more.

Darklord Salamandoom licked his eyeball with his long tongue in frustration, thinking of a new strategy. He ducked into a nearby store and started firing behind his cover. “Idiots!” he hissed to his minions. “Get in the buildings. These heroes wouldn’t dare let civilians come to harm. Use the citizens as protection.”

The lizard soldiers scrambled, taking cover. Starfire and Archangel managed to fire off a few more blasts, but these were useless as they avoided unnecessary casualties.

“What now?” Archangel asked.

Starfire shook her head. “I am not sure. These are not normal enemies.”

Raven and Beast Boy had taken a page from their adversaries and took shelter around the edge of the post office. Raven watched the whole scene unfolded from her position, her brow furrowed in concentration. “This isn’t right,” she said. “Fictional characters don’t just get up and walk out of the pages of a book. Beast Boy, you have to know something about this.”

He threw up his hands. “I swear, I don’t know how this happened.”

“Think! There has to be something strange that started this. Have you been writing anymore since this started?”

Beast Boy shook his head. “No, I was so freaked out by all of it, I stopped.”

She was starting to become frustrated, her teeth starting to grind. “Okay...so, what was the last thing you wrote?”

He had to think on that one for a minute. “Well this, I guess.” He held up the comic he had taken with him to investigate. “It was supposed to be a big finale with Darklord Salamandoom. He was going to use the doom gun to destroy Captain Amazing’s home city, and I was in the middle of writing it when this happened. Besides, I was getting tired of trying to write with that feather.”

“Feather?” Raven said, growing suspicious. “You mean a quill?”

“Whatever you want to call it. It kept smearing ink, and it was getting annoying.”

“Why the heck would you use that?”

He threw up his hands. “I don’t know. I was out of pens to write with, and I found it.”

Raven did everything in her power to not want to strangle him right then and there. After all, the rage building would have made her powers uncontrollable.

“So, let me get this straight. After telling you time and time again that touching anything in my room comes with consequences, after witnessing for yourself the kinds of things I keep, you still thought it was a good idea for you to go in there, take something, and use it?”

His eyes darted to and fro. “Well...not when you say it like that.”

“Beast Boy, that quill, like all things in my room, has magical properties. Whatever that quill writes becomes reality. So, how do you think it makes me feel that you used it to draw a comic book?”

“Um, mad?”

“Livid. But, at least that tells me how we can stop this. Where did you leave the quill?”

He thought for a moment. “I think it may be under the bed.”

She grabbed his arm. “Come on!”

Cyborg continued to keep blasting at lizard men, at least the few stragglers caught in between him and Robin. “We can’t keep doing this,” he said. “We’ve got to make headway somehow.”

Robin watched as Starfire and Archangel flew about, clearly at an impasse for what to do next. Meanwhile, Captain Amazing seemed to at least have some respite from the attack. “Thank you, young heroes,” he said. “But this fight is between me and my old nemesis. I’d hate to get others involved.”

“We have the duty to protect Jump City,” Robin said,” and given how things are going, you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Captain Amazing nodded. Robin continued. “What can you tell us about stopping that doom gun.”

The fictional hero shook his head. “I wish I knew. That is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. In his hands, he can do just about anything with it. If we could only separate him from it.”

“It’s too late for that now,” Darklord Salamandoom rasped. “With the energy output of this weapon, I am unstoppable!”

A starbolt hit just inches from his feet. Starfire and Archangel were trying to take advantage of him finally coming out of hiding. He took aim and fired at them. They dodged, but only by a fraction of a second. It was too close of a call, Robin thought. He signalled for them to hold their position.

“What is it you want?” Robin asked, hoping to get him monologuing.

“Nothing short of the end of the world. When the dust settles, I and my people will settle this pathetic planet and claim it for our own. You’ll be the first to watch.”

The doom gun began to warm up, reaching higher settings, indicating this was about to be the big finish. But just as he pulled the trigger, nothing happened. In fact, the doom gun seemed to power down completely. “What?” he roared. “How could this be? How does something like this happen?”

“It’s because you forgot one thing,” Beast Boy called from the distance. “I’m the writer.”

Darklord Salamandoom glowered, and threw down the broken doom gun. He rushed at Beast Boy, only to rush headlong into one of Raven’s magical shields. “Great idea,” she said. “Draw more attention to us.”

“I was going for effect.”

“Just write!”

“Uh...right.” He began scribbling on the paper as fast as he could. “Let’s see. Realizing their imminent doom, the darklord’s army retreats for their ship,” he said, writing out the words as he spoke.

“Do they even have a ship?” Raven asked.

“They do now.” Beast Boy finished his quick sketch with a flourish.

Robin and the rest of the team felt the ground shake underneath them as a large, albeit extravagant-looking, spaceship appeared out of nowhere. In a desperate panic, the lizard men scrambled to get on.

“Well, that works,” Cyborg said as he got out of the way of the swarm.

Robin said, “Right, new plan. Guard Beast Boy. Whatever he’s doing is working.”

Darklord Salamandoom pounded on the shield. “You can’t hide forever, earthling! Whatever powers you possess, I will destroy you for them.”

“You and what army?” Beast Boy teased.

The lizard turned his head, noticing he was surrounded on all sides by the Titans. “This isn’t over, green one. I will be back.”

“Doubt it, unless I decide to write a sequel.”

Captain Amazing halted him in his tracks.

“Our eternal fight isn’t over yet either,” Darklord Salamandoom hissed.

“It is here. I know how slippery you are. You may get away this time, but I will follow you to the ends of the galaxy.”

“You’re right about one thing: I will get away.”

Setting off a smoke bomb, the darklord vanished into his ship, setting a course, for a new hideout.

“So, that’s it?” Raven said.

“Well, it’s the best I can do. It sets me up for my sequel: Captain Amazing in Space.”

“Not happening.”

Beast Boy shrugged. “At least that keeps him from coming back to Earth.” He turned to Captain Amazing. “I guess this is goodbye then.”

“Indeed, it is my sworn duty to see him fail in his plans. The power he plans to wield is too much for any one person. I must go after him.”

“Well, goodbye then. You really were amazing.”

Captain Amazing said very little as he flew off into the sky, rising high beyond their sights.

Later that day, the Titans began assisting the city in rebuilding and fixing all the destruction caused. “Next time you want to create a character that comes to life,” Cyborg said as he lifted some rubble, “try making one with a lot less superpowers.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Beast Boy looked around to find Raven levitating some beams back into place. “Hey, Raven, can I ask you something?”

“Kind of busy.”

“It won’t take long. I just had to ask, why did you have that magic quill. I mean, I get it, you have lots of magical things, but you keep telling us a lot of them are dangerous. Why do you have that if it’s so dangerous?”

Raven was quiet for a few moments, silently debating with herself on how to answer the question. At last, she said, “Before I met you guys, the monks of Azarath had left me pretty much on my own to figure out how to deal with my fate. I wanted to find a way to prevent it from happening at all. That’s how a lot of that stuff ended up in my hands. They all had potential ways to help fight off my father’s coming.”

“So the quill?”

“I thought if I could rewrite my own story, my own past, that it would make it true. But no matter what I did, nothing fixed what was supposed to happen. It took you and the others to help fix things after it happened.”

“So, why did you still keep that stuff?”

Raven sighed. “Well, a lot of those things are very dangerous. They couldn’t be back in mortal hands. Me keeping them was the safest thing. Though with you around, I’m starting to doubt that.”

Beast Boy grimaced. “Look, I’ve learned my lesson now. No more messing with this stuff. I promise.”

Raven only gave a non-committal hum. “We’ll see. For now, just try and work towards getting me to trust you around my room again, and no wild stories.”

“I’ll try.”

Raven was not entirely sure that he would always live up to that promise, but the sincerity in his voice made her certain that he wanted to earn her trust and be a good friend. For now, that would be enough.


End file.
